Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a management method of a consumable item, and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus, a consumable item, for example, such as an ink tank and toner, is used and in the case where the consumable item has been consumed, the consumable item is exchanged with a new consumable item. Further, in recent years, an image forming apparatus is known, which is capable of appropriately managing the amount of remaining consumable item by storing the amount of remaining consumable item (or the amount of used consumable item). For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-8756 has disclosed an image forming apparatus that uses information necessary for management of a consumable item to control the printing operation by writing the information in a memory chip mounted on the consumable item of the image forming apparatus.
In this image forming apparatus of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-8756, information at the time of manufacture is stored in a ROM area, information on a new item, a used item, and so on, which is rewritten only once, is stored in an OTP (One Time Programmable) area, and further, information on the amount of remaining consumable item is stored in an R/W area (rewritable area).
However, as in the image forming apparatus of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-8756, in the case where a plurality of memory areas is provided in the memory chip (consumable item), the cost is raised accordingly, and therefore, for example, writing information on the amount of remaining consumable item also in an OTP area, which is comparatively inexpensive, can be under study by taking into consideration the cost.
However, in the case where a memory whose write speed is comparatively slow, like the OTP area, is adopted in a memory chip mounted on the consumable item of the image forming apparatus, there is a possibility that a decrease in throughput of printing will result. The present invention has been made in view of these problems and an object is to reduce a decrease in throughput of image formation while improving accuracy of management of a consumable item.